H Street Streetcar Eyeing Late February Opening — Project managers for the H Street NE Streetcar are aiming to begin passenger service on Feb. 20 or earlier. [WAMU]
Townhomes, Retail Approved for Alley on H Street Corridor — Plans to build four townhomes and commercial space on Linden Court NE, just off of the H Street corridor, were approved by the Board of Zoning Adjustment in December. [Urban Turf]
A Look at Development to Come This Year in Navy Yard — Navy Yard blog JDLand rounded up all the construction projects scheduled to complete in 2016 in the Navy Yard area. [JDLand]
District Council Upholds Ban on Cannabis Clubs After Councilmembers Allen, May Change Votes — The District council briefly voted down a temporary extension of the ban on private venues where residents can consume marijuana but reinstated the ban 15 minutes later after Ward 6 Councilman Charles Allen and Ward 8 Councilwoman LaRuby May changed their votes to support the ban. [Washington City Paper]
Hilton, Hyatt Coming to Southwest Waterfront — Hilton and Hyatt have signed a deal to open a dual-branded hotel at The Wharf in Southwest in the fall of 2017. [DC Curbed]
H Street NE Head Shop’s Sales on Upswing — Island Dyes on the H Street Corridor has increased its sales since marijuana was legalized in the District earlier this year. [NBC Washington]
Restaurant on H Street Corridor to Hold English Class — Sally’s Middle Name on H Street NE next month will start a program intended to help restaurant workers with their English language skills. [WTOP]
Goats Get Back to Work at Congressional Cemetery — Congressional Cemetery’s popular lawn-mowing goats are back. Hill Now stopped by the Hill East cemetery to see them in action. [Hill Now]
All Time High — Capitol Hill police and paramedics are treating more patients for synthetic cannabinoids, which are fake drugs sold under names like K2, Spice and Scooby Snax. District officials report that synthetic drug use reached an all-time high last month. Before May, less than 30 cases were reported per month. Last month, 439 cases were reported. [Washington Post]
Stabbing Suspect Summoned — The suspect in a fatal stabbing on a Metro train on July 4 faced court Friday for a previous assault charge. Jasper Spires, 18, was charged with assaulting a man in Friendship Heights with a wine bottle two days before the stabbing aboard a train at the NoMa-Gallaudet University Metro station. [NBC Washington]
You’re Out! — Friday night’s Nationals baseball game was suspended after the stadium lights went dark three times. A Nationals spokesperson said the failure was caused by a faulty circuit breaker. The game resumed on Saturday afternoon. [WTOP]
No Average Lemonade Stand — The Metropolitan Wellness Center on Barracks Row is selling cannabis-infused pomegranate lemonade. It costs $32 per 12-ounce bottle and a prescription is required. [Washington City Paper]
‘Be With Me Playseum’ Scheduled to Close — The Capitol Hill children’s play venue is set to shut its doors at the end of the month. Owner Gina Seebachan is looking for a new location in the neighborhood. In the meantime, she’s asking residents to continue supporting the business. [Capitol Hill Corner]
Blessed On the Waterfront — More than 30 boats lined up to be blessed off the Southwest waterfront on Saturday for the 40th annual Blessing of the Fleet. “We ask for divine intervention for safety and safe passage,” a representative of the Port of Washington Yacht Club said. [WTOP]
Check-in on D.C.’s Pot Laws — The Post dug into how the politics and legalese of D.C.’s new marijuana regulations could protect local dealers. [Washington Post]
The Pope’s Visit to Capitol Hill — U.S. Capitol Police are preparing for “a mass of humanity” to descend on the National Mall for Pope Francis’ address to Congress in September. Neighborhood street closures can be expected. [Roll Call]
D.C. Public School System Staff Changes — D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson is planning to hire 200 new staffers for District schools, while cutting employees at the DCPS central office. [The Washington Post]
Marijuana Seed Exchange — The D.C. Cannabis Campaign this month plans to hold two “seed shares,” which it says are legal. [Washington City Paper]
Overnight Truck Deliveries — The District Department of Transportation is trying to ease congestion from delivery trucks during the day by encouraging overnight deliveries. [Washington Post]
With some marijuana use and possession legal in D.C. today, Nando’s Peri Peri is getting into the spirit.
All four District locations of the restaurant — including at 300 Tingey St. in Navy Yard — are serving up free flame-grilled chicken at 4:20 p.m., some pot smokers’ favorite time of day.
Each customer eating inside the restaurant can get a quarter chicken, chicken pita or chicken wrap, on a first come, first served basis. The promotion will run until 5:20 p.m., Nando’s announced.
A smoke shop on H Street NE and garden supply center on the Hill told us yesterday that they’re expecting an uptick in sales related to marijuana. Here’s what’s legal starting today.
Photo via Facebook/Nando’s Peri Peri
Just hours before partial marijuana legalization in the District, a pair of Capitol Hill companies is weighing the new law’s effects on their businesses.
On H Street NE, the smoke shop Island Dyes is expecting a surge in sales starting tomorrow, though owner Glen Schlow is careful to market the store’s dozens of handblown pipes and rolling papers as intended for tobacco use only. The shop even has a buzzing, red “No” button employees can slam when a customer uses two pot-associated “B words” — bong and bowl.
Like the pot-smokers’ holiday “4/20,” Thursday might be a big day for the shop.
“I would think we would see an uptick,” Schlow said.
Opened at 331 H St. NE in June, Island Dyes manufactures its own ultra-shatter-resistant glass pipes, which are so strong they won’t break if nails are driven into them.
Further south, the garden supply center Ginkgo Gardens is fielding inquiries about supplies used to grow marijuana.
Some aspiring pot-growers disclose to Ginkgo Gardens staff how they’ll use growing lamps and rock wool insulation, a material that retains water and can support plant roots. But other customers are sheepish about their requests, manager Tom Hammond said.
“Even if they don’t outright say it, you know what they’re looking for,” he said.
The 911 11th St. SE shop carries growing lamps now and may carry other supplies used by marijuana growers if customers want them.
“When there’s more demand and people use the stuff, we’ll consider carrying it,” Hammond said.
The voter-approved marijuana laws are set to go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday. They will make it legal for adults age 21 and older to possess as much as 2 ounces of pot, use it on private property and grow as many as six marijuana plants, only three of which can be “mature.” The law also allows adults to give as much as 1 ounce of marijuana to someone else, as long as no money, goods or services are exchanged.
The District will move forward with enforcing the laws, despite opposition by some Republican congressmen.
“It is the law,” Attorney General Karl Racine said at a press conference this afternoon, DCist reported. “Nothing more and nothing less.”
Navy Yard Affordable Housing Update — The D.C. Zoning Commission gave the Housing Authority initial approval to have flexibility on the location of affordable units in the Capper/Carrollsburg development. ANC 6D opposes the prospect of locating affordable and market-rate units in two separate buildings. [JDLand]
Driver Who Killed Pedestrian Was on Narcotics, Police Say — The man who flipped his SUV downtown on Monday, killing a man, appeared to be under the influence of narcotics, police said. James Brooks Chandler, 33, told police he took Percocet and other drugs after dental surgery. At 4th and H streets NW, he fatally struck Philip Snodgrass, 27, a lawyer, D.C. resident and Maryland native. [Washington Post]
Restaurant and ‘Retail Showroom’ to Replace Pizza Parts & Service — Popville hears that a restaurant by a former chef at Cashion’s Eat Place and New Heights Restaurant will move into where Pizza Parts & Service closed earlier this month. The second floor will reportedly be used as a retail showroom for pop-ups and events. [Popville]
Pot Law Still Isn’t Legal, Congress Says — House Republicans sent Mayor Muriel Bowser a letter threatening legal consequences if the District legalizes some marijuana possession and use tomorrow. [Washington City Paper]
New voter-approved marijuana laws go into effect this week, and the city is working to make D.C. residents understand what will be allowed and what’s still illegal.
The implementation of Initiative 71 starting at 12:01 a.m. Thursday will make it legal for adults age 21 and older to:
- possess as much as 2 ounces of pot,
- use it on private property,
- grow as many as six marijuana plants, only three of which can be “mature” and
- give as much as 1 ounce to someone else as long as no money, goods or services are exchanged.
“In November, residents of the District of Columbia voted to legalize small amounts of marijuana by adults for personal, in-home use in the District,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a statement. “We will uphold the letter and the spirit of the initiative that was passed last year, and we will establish the Initiative 71 Task Force to coordinate our enforcement, awareness and engagement efforts and address policy questions as they arise.”
Of particular interest to Hill residents is that it remains illegal to possess marijuana on federal land, which includes the National Mall, Lincoln Park, Seward Square, the park space around the Eastern Market Metro station and several plots of land in Navy Yard. The Washington Post mapped these areas.
D.C. will not “become like Amsterdam,” according to a question-and-answer sheet from the mayor’s office that stresses “home grow, home use.”
“Our law allows home use by adults 21 and over. Marijuana cafes are not permitted, and neither is the sale of any amount of marijuana,” the sheet says.
It remains a crime to:
- Sell any amount of marijuana
- Possess more than two ounces of marijuana;
- Smoke or otherwise consume pot in public or in “anywhere to which the public is invited,” including restaurants and bars or
- Operate a vehicle or boat under the influence of marijuana
Anyone convicted of smoking or consuming pot in public faces a $500 fine and up to 60 days jail time. Selling marijuana carries a $1,000 fine and six months jail time. And any business that lets patrons use pot could lose its license.
Image via D.C. Government
